Category Archives: Twitter

A Bit of an Update

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Well, we made it through the Hump Month of August, and did just about everything we set out to accomplish.

We managed to get our Ottawa house on the market – and it sold in mere days for the full asking price!  Miraculous!!

And I went back to Vancouver on September 1st and found a place to live – the main level of a little bungalow right in the Main Street neighborhood I’ve come to love so much.

Next steps – I fly back to Ottawa this coming weekend and supervise the packing and the move – and the most wonderful thing – I get to see the nice guys from 1-800-GotJunk drive away with a truckload of STUFF:-)  I’ll be a happy camper when that’s all done.

Then we close the house on the 30th, pay our bills and start a new chapter.

My husband Dave and I will begin a drive across Canada around October 2nd in plenty of time to meet the moving van at our new digs.  It’s a first for both of us and we’re very excited!  I’m hoping to meet up with fellow bloggers and Twitterers as we go…and of course, write about our impressions of a part of Canada that we’ll discover together.  I’ll be tweeting our destinations, so you all have an idea of where we’ll be stopping.

Praying for lots and lots of good Internet and cell coverage!

Wish us luck – and hope to meet many of you along the way.

In the meantime, though, I need to post a few more blogs this week to make up for lost time!

How I Spent My Twitter Vacation

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When Twitter went down with no warning on Thursday morning, my first reaction was annoyance.  I was in the middle of my morning ritual of checking overnight posts, replying and RTing where it made sense, and generally getting up to speed – and this unexpected downtime interrupted my schedule. Drat.  Oh well, I’ll grab a coffee and it’ll be back up.

But of course, it wasn’t.

So I went over to Facebook, which for me isn’t my preferred vehicle of conversation.  Commiserated with a few fellow Tweeters who, like me, were starting to get twitchy. One dear old friend suggested to me that perhaps I needed a 12-Step Program…

I knew he was joking (really, he was!), but it did prompt me to realize that I was spending too much time staring at the screen, simply waiting for the bluebird to rise again.

So I walked away from the computer. I actually sat and read the paper. I called my mother. I curled up with my frail little 16 year old cat and told her how much I loved her.  And it felt good.

When Twitter came back up, I was relieved and happy – but I also reminded myself to approach this platform I love with a little more objectivity, a different perspective.  As much and as often as I am on Twitter, and as much as I value who I know and what I’ve learned there – there a lot more to savor.

So, no 12-Step.  But certainly one important one for me.

Building Connections, Two at a Time

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Not sure how it’s happened, but I am hovering around the 3,000 mark in followers on Twitter.  And I follow just about that many people.  It’s amazing.  And overwhelming.  How can I possibly connect with all these wonderful, smart people?

Realistically, I can’t, although I try really hard to engage as many as I can.  And surprisingly, (to me at least) many people engage right back. I love when that happens.

So, I’ve decided to share my very positive Twitter experience.

This week I began posting what I’m calling my Introduction of the Day -  connecting two people I have met on Twitter who may share interests, or professions, or proximity.  Or they may just be two people I enjoy so much that I simply want them to meet and strike up a conversation.

After all, conversation is what Twitter is all about.

I’m looking forward to having fun with this.  And I hope it prompts you to introduce people you know.  I think it has the potential to enrich the Twitter experience for all of us.

Let me know how it goes.

Blogathon Vancouver – 24 Hours, Many Heroes

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Yesterday, at the ungodly hour of 6am, several of my Vancouver friends plunged into 24 straight hours of blogging for charity.  Blogathon Vancouver has helped support the efforts of some 20 local charities – from the BC Cancer Foundation and the BC Children’s Hospital to the Vancouver Food Bank and the Federation of BC Writers.  And it’s also introduced the world to some of the most talented and caring people I know.

I was fortunate to guest-blog during the event.

Check out my post for @hummingbird604 on Making the Most of  Twitter in Real Life here.

And I took a slightly lighthearted look at how social media, especially Twitter, can level the playing field for disabled people. Take a look on @ganga_narayanan’s blog here.

For more comprehensive info on Blogathon, visit both @hummingbird604′s and @Miss604′s blogs for starters.  You’ll see references to the many people who participated and the charities they helped.

Next year, I hope to be part of this marvellous group in person.  Great job, everyone!

You are heroes.

An Ounce of Prevention…

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I like to keep tabs on what’s happening in my adopted city, Vancouver BC, and today my Twitter pal Dixon Tam sent out a tweet about a post by our friend Gus Fosarolli in his Gus Digital blog.  It’s called “You Don’t Want to Drown Today”, and it centers on the efforts of a BC group called The Community Against Preventable Injuries to raise public awareness of drowning dangers.

Here are some sobering stats:

  • Half of the children who drown are alone and unsupervised
  • Alcohol was associated with 40% of drowning among Canadians aged 15 years and older
  • About 90% of people who drown while boating do not wear a life-jacket

The Community will be distributing beach towels and putting up signs and posters throughout BC. The overall message packs a punch:

“You’re Probably Not Expecting to Drown Today.”

Why did this post make me stop and write about this?

Because 40 years ago this summer, my cousin Robert O’Donnell drowned at the age of 17.

He was a smart, handsome boy who was loved by everyone. He was a wonderfully supportive son and brother. He had a promising life ahead of him. And it was cut short all too soon. To this day, I always wonder what the world would have been like with him here, and what he could have contributed to his family and community.

Hats off to The Community for all its hard work as it educates British Columbians that accidents can be prevented, and lives can be saved. Check them out here.

Have a happy – and safe – rest of the summer.